LOBBYISTS FLOODED GATES ON FLOOD INSURANCE BILL: With the northeastern United States looking like a scene out of The Day After Tomorrow, people across the country are worrying about the cost of Hurricane Sandy.

Many of the cities hit were completely unprepared to handle a storm of such proportions. Eqecat, a firm that calculates damage costs, estimates that the storm could cost $10 billion, about twice as much as Irene.

Technically, any homeowner with a federally-backed mortgage is partially covered by the National Flood Insurance Program, but in practice, no one is really sure how much damage NFIP will cover.

ANTI-HUMANE SOCIETY GROUP BACKED BY OIL RUNS ANTI-VILSACK AD: A group with the benign name “Protect the Harvest” this week started running an ad against Christie Vilsack, the Democrat who’s running to represent Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District.

Protect the Harvest is a group that opposes the Humane Society and claims that the defenders of animals pose a significant threat to farmers, hunters and pet owners.

But although Protect the Harvest looks like a single-issue group, it’s fully funded by Lucas Oil, a manufacturer and distributor of automotive oil and sponsor of NASCAR.

The ad claims that Vilsack is “friends” with the Humane Society and thereby poses a threat to American farmers. OpenSecrets data reveals that the Humane Society hasn’t given any money to Vilsack, although it has spent the most in the race, spending nearly $750,000 opposing her the incumbent in the district, Republican Steven King.

Lucas Oil gave $200,000 to the organization, covering slightly more than the ad’s total production and placement cost of $197,766.

FORMER TRIBUNE CHAIRMAN, MAGNATE GIVES TO MUSEUM AND REPUBLICANS: Sam Zell, the former chairman of the Tribune Company, gave a $10 million gift to Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art on Wednesday.

But Zell and his wife, Helen, don’t give only to the arts; they also contribute generously to political causes. The couple has contributed more than $500,000 to mostly conservative Super PACs and campaigns in the 2012 election cycle, according to Center for Responsive Politics data.

The couple has given nearly $100,000 to Mitt Romney-supporting Restore Our Future, $5,000 to Paul Ryan and even $50,000 to the YG Action Fund, a super PAC that supports conservatives.

Zell was highly vocal about his political leanings in the beginning of October, when he went on a rant criticizing government regulations and praising and Romney’s economic plan over Obama’s.Images: Oyster Bay, New York, after Hurricane Sandy hit via flickr user CasualCapture.Sam Zell talks to the Orlando Sentinel in 2008 via flickr user william couch.

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